Three takeaways from Indiana Pacers loss to Tyrese Maxey and Philadelphia 76ers
The Indiana Pacers struggled with the Philadelphia 76ers star players in a loss on Sunday night.
On their way to a 137-126 victory, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey combined for 87 points for Philly. Maxey, in particular, was impressive. He scored a career-high 50 points and was often unguardable for the Sixers, especially from long range.
The Pacers scored enough to win on most nights and got an excellent performance from Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with 25 points and 17 assists. Indiana won his minutes, and Myles Turner had a quality offensive game too.
But the blue and gold struggled defensively and couldn't capture momentum against Philly's stars. They'll get another chance to take down the 76ers on Tuesday night, which is why their takeaways from this game are so important. They can be applied tomorrow.
Indiana was crushed by star power
Joel Embiid always crushes the Pacers. He's averaging 31.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game against the franchise for his career, his third-highest scoring average against a specific club. Indiana has never been able to slow him down, and it's expected that he puts up numbers in the matchup.
Tyrese Maxey, though, was a new challenge for the Pacers. He's had quality outings against them before, but never at that level. It was difficult for the blue and gold to gather any momentum when Philly always had a star player controlling the game.
"They're both having great years so far. We knew that coming in," Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar said of Maxey and Embiid at halftime of the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast of the game. Weinar noted that slowing down those two players is all about effort and force.
The Pacers will need more of that tomorrow. Maxey was 8/13 against his primary matchup, Bruce Brown, per the NBA's tracking data. Embiid, meanwhile, was 10/21 while defended by Myles Turner, who was defending the former MVP on shooting possessions for over eight minutes.
Those two did all they could. Slowing the stars requires team effort. Turner and Brown will need to do everything they can, and the blue and gold will need more force against the 76ers star players on Tuesday.
Tyrese Haliburton was special
The 76ers star players weren't the only ones to have an impressive outing. Tyrese Haliburton was in form, and his ability to push the pace constantly had Philadelphia on the back foot.
Haliburton finished with 25 points and 17 assists, the most dimes a player has tossed in an NBA game this season. He threw nine in the third quarter alone, more than any of his teammates had all night.
The All-Star guard is having a tremendous season, and his ability to speed things up and get a defense moving was exactly what the blue and gold needed against the 76ers. Indiana won Haliburton's minutes by four in an 11-point loss.
If the 23-year old can repeat his performance on Tuesday, the Pacers will at least have a chance to win even if they struggle to improve in other areas.
The Pacers need to be better on the glass
Indiana lost by double digits on Sunday night despite shooting over 40% from deep, winning the turnover battle, and shooting a better percentage from the field. The reason why? Rebounding.
Philadelphia won the battle of the boards 54-32. They grabbed 23 offensive rebounds, including eight from Embiid himself. Altogether, that gave the Sixers 15 more shot attempts than the Pacers. That gap gave them room for error, which they used to cruise to victory.
"We didn't bring the right fight to the game from the jump," Weinar said at halftime. Indiana has to battle better on the glass.
Turner finished with only five rebounds. The Pacers leader, Jalen Smith, finished with just six. Indiana won't be a good team on the boards this season, but they have to be better than they were on Sunday if they want to beat good teams.
The blue and gold will get another chance to take down the 76ers on Tuesday night in In-Season tournament action.
- Exclusive: Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner donates gift cards to kids, talks about the Indiana Pacers season. CLICK HERE.
- Isaiah Jackson's block on Victor Wembanyama was the highlight of a productive week for the Pacers' patient young center. CLICK HERE.
- Bennedict Mathurin shows that he can be the player that the Indiana Pacers want. CLICK HERE.
- Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid were too much for the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. CLICK HERE.
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